NOM Responds to 9th Circuit's Prop 8 Ruling, Calls It 'Absurd'

The National Organization for Marriage is furious that the 9th Circuit has ruled in favor of equality.

Said NOM President Brian Brown (pictured above, at the NY marriage equality passage):

“As sweeping and wrong-headed as this decision is, it nonetheless was as predictable as the outcome of a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition game. We have anticipated this outcome since the moment San Francisco Judge Vaughn Walker’s first hearing in the case. Now we have the field cleared to take this issue to the US Supreme Court, where we have every confidence we will prevail.”

Seethes Chairman John Eastman:

“Never before has a federal appeals court – or any federal court for that matter – found a right to gay marriage under the US Constitution. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is the most overturned circuit in the country, and Judge Stephen Reinhardt, the author of today’s absurd ruling is the most overturned federal judge in America. Today’s ruling is a perfect setup for this case to be taken by the US Supreme Court, where I am confident it will be reversed. This issue is the Roe v Wade of the current generation, and I sincerely doubt the Court has the stomach for preempting the policy judgments of the states on such a contentious matter, knowing the lingering harm it caused by that ruling.”

Comments

If the idiots were paying attention, they'd note that this court didn't find a right to gay marriage in the US constitution either. They took the CA constitution requiiring it as given and then applied equal protection reasoning to the restriction being added.

Posted by: BGKev | Feb 7, 2012 2:53:11 PM

I love the way they callWalker "San Francisco Judge ." They can't bring themselevs to say gay -- even with an openly gay man.

As I understand the coverage, since the ruling is narrow (affecting only CA) this actually makes it LESS likely that the SCOTUS will take up the issue since there is no interstate conflict.

It is also interesting to read NOM's total misunderstand (or misstating) of the reasoning behind the ruling.

Posted by: badlydrawnbear | Feb 7, 2012 3:02:27 PM

Someone should really tell him how Roe v Wade worked out for social conservatives.

What a maroon.

He lost as a GOP candidate for California attorney general in 2010, and he's an idiot.

Posted by: JoshG | Feb 7, 2012 3:02:32 PM

It's bizarre. They cast really juvenile aspersions against the judges and their ruling, whine that the really basic and concrete logic of the judgement doesn't validate their out-of-date attitudes toward gays and marriage equality, then get weirdly confident that the Supreme Court will totally have their back. "I sincerely doubt the Court has the stomach for preempting the policy judgments of the states on such a contentious matter". Yup, vague threats are about all you got left.

Funny how they don't call him "Bush appointed judge." Cry away Brian, this is just the first few drops of water that will become a flood washing you and your intolerance away. With every new ruling, America realizes the sky is not falling and that denying fellow citizens full equality is nothing but bigotry and discrimination and not the kind of America that they want to be. Tomorrow Washington, then Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire......

Posted by: Michaelandfred | Feb 7, 2012 3:04:09 PM

Can Ari weigh in on whether the 9th Circuit and Judge Reinhardt are really the most overturned in the country? Thanks

Posted by: Chris | Feb 7, 2012 3:04:34 PM

Ah, poor NOM. It's not a good day to be a bigot :(

Posted by: shle896shle | Feb 7, 2012 3:09:00 PM

Brian Brown is clearly a self-loathing closet case who despairs upon news of the ruling because he feels (1) if same-sex couples are allowed to marry, then his marriage becomes even more of a sham than it already is; (2) he is a failure in the eyes of the bigots that he so desperately wants to prove himself worthy of; (3) by being so obsessed with quashing the civil rights of open and honest gays and lesbians, he could gain the approval of God and thus secure salvation, as if he has made a divine bargain in which he might be "cured" in exchange for demonstrating just how sincerely he hates gays.

We've seen this exact story so many times before. It's a kind of "I'll prove I'm one of you straights by showing how much I hate gays" mentality.

Posted by: atomic | Feb 7, 2012 3:22:17 PM

I'm like one of Pavlov's dogs. Whenever Brian Brown cries, gays just won some sort of equality, and I am happy. So now, I just need to see Brian crying to be happy.

Posted by: kpo5 | Feb 7, 2012 3:24:34 PM

Atomic, you're (of course) utterly correct.

i don't know any people who are comfortable with themselves and their sexuality who take any issue whatsoever with the sexualities of others.

from the closeted men who "disguise themselves" as anti-gay Christian Conservatives, to the insecure semi-Out males who freak the heck out about gay men who are different in their gayness from themselves. it's just so tired, trite and obvious.

you know how secretive subgroups make up their own languages for their fleshly desires?

Mr Eastman. This is the Roe vs Wade of this generation? Last time I looked, it's been challenged, but THAT decision still stands.

Posted by: Pdxblueysul | Feb 7, 2012 3:42:11 PM

I don't have the cites, but I remember reading that yes, they are the most overturned in the sense that numerically more of their cases get overturned, but also that they actually hear more cases because of the way the population was distributed when the circuits were laid out - and that as a percentage of their actual case load, it isn't nearly as dramatic.

It's like saying that France has more murders than Lichtenstein. Umm, duh.

Posted by: Lymis | Feb 7, 2012 3:57:53 PM

Brian Brown fathering 7 kids doesn't prove he's straight. I was listening to him during the Evan Wolfson inteview on WABC and the more he opened his mouth, the more my gaydar reacted.

Fortunately for the short term (and better chances for SCOTUS) win, this was narrowed to just California. Hopefully, this will still leave enough a precedent lingering that other states can benefit from it.

in Mr. Brown's defense, the Washington Generals did win two games against the Harlem Globetrotters as I can recall... LOL

Posted by: David B. | Feb 7, 2012 4:49:34 PM

How is this in any way related to Roe v. Wade? While positions about abortion and gay rights might often travel together culturally, anyone with even a TV-based idea of the law should understand that the constitutional lineages of these cases are completely separate.

Posted by: Stefan | Feb 7, 2012 5:15:08 PM

@Stefan: How is this in any way like Roe v Wade? Well, if gay people are allowed to marry, innocent babies are stuck in heaven because gays can't make a baby. That's the same as abortion.

See? Perfectly logical.

Posted by: RWG | Feb 7, 2012 5:55:34 PM

by mitt romney's logic, non-Mormons having babies is as bad as abortion because those babies are being born into the wrong religion and then they'll have to spend eternity as slaves, rather than having their own planets to rule and have sex with many wives on.

Little KIWI - so good to see you reverse yourself, abandoning all displeasure over gay NFL men who have not come out on your timetable, indeed, that you are no longer one of those "...who freak the heck out about gay men who are different in their gayness from themselves." What made you realize that staying in the closet until you are ready to come out is just a different way of being different.
Dazzle us with your ephiphany.